


Only in Dreams

by cerberus_angel



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Heavy Angst, light fluff, may be a tearjecker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-08
Updated: 2013-07-08
Packaged: 2017-12-18 02:36:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/874694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cerberus_angel/pseuds/cerberus_angel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Dreams die hard and you hold them in your hands long after they've turned to dust."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Only in Dreams

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SapphireBlueJiyuu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphireBlueJiyuu/gifts).



> The lyrics featured in this piece as well as the title are from Weezer's song Only in Dreams. I highly recommend to listen to it while reading this one-shot. Another thing, I would like to apologize for any errors. I looked it over, but I'm not gonna lie, I'm really horrible at proofreading. With that said I hope you enjoy. 
> 
> Jan! *hug* This one is for you love! :D I'm sorry that it's angst, next time I promise to make it fluffy.

**_Only in dreams_ **

**_We see what it means_ **

**_Reach out our hands_ **

**_Hold onto hers_ **

_The sound of thunder growling echoed around him. He gazed up at the dark grey clouds that made their home in the once azure sky. Rains drops fell, but he could barely feel them seeping into his clothing and wetting him. The heavens were beginning to cry._

_“Robb.” Rickon called out to his oldest brother, but received no response. He didn’t turn around or acknowledge him with a glance. Rickon wondered if Robb would ever turn around again and really look at him._

“Robb.”

He bit back a smile when he woke up to the feel of her hand running through his hair and was now even more reluctant to get up. Robb wrapped his arms around the woman next to him and pulled her closer to him. “Just give me five more minutes.” He mumbled into the crook of her neck as he basked in her warmth.

“If I give you five more minutes you’re going to be late for work.”

“Cella.” He groaned. “I’m the CEO’s son.”

“Which should give you more reason to get up.” Myrcella chuckled as she fisted his hair and tugged playfully. “You’re the next in line to become the CEO, what kind of example would you be setting for your future workers if you make a habit of arriving late?”

“You win this round, but we’ll see who’s victorious at night.” A grin slowly spread across his lips when a blush coated her cheeks and her eyes narrowed on him.

A grin that rivaled his graced her lips. “And here I was thinking about making you breakfast.”  She whispered to him leaning closer.

“You would never be so cruel.” His lips brushed against hers as he uttered the words and pinned her under him. Her hands twined with his above her head. His lips slowly trailed down the column of her throat as he pressed kisses, enjoying the way her breath hitched and her breasts pressed against his chest. “Robb.” She moaned his name and he mentally cursed her sleeping wear that kept him from feeling her skin against his.

“We didn’t lock the door…” She struggled not to focus on his hand that trailed down the side of her breast and his thumb that brushed over her nipple before continuing its path downward.  “The kids might walk in.” Myrcella said breathlessly as the damnable hand reached inside her night shirt and stroked her body. She bit her bottom lip to keep from moaning when he cupped her breast and rubbed a thumb over her perking nipple.    

The sound of rapid footsteps echoed from outside the room. “I hope you know that you just jinxed us.” Robb chuckled and kissed her deeply one last time before retrieving his hand and scrambling off his wife. The door to the master bedroom slammed open, before Robb could even say a word he was tackled with hugs and kissed by two five-year-old girls. He wholeheartedly welcomed the gestures of affection as he hugged the twins Joanna and Lyanna and kissed them on the forehead. “Where’s Ned?”

“Papa!”

Robb looked at the doorway in time to see his three-year-old son Ned run into the room. He reached down to pick his son up with one arm and used his other hand to tickle him relentlessly. Ned let out peals of laughter as he tried to wiggle out of his father’s arm to escape the tickle attack. While Joanna and Lyanna looked more like their mother with their Lannister sun-kissed hair and emerald eyes, Ned came out looking more like a Stark with his dark colored hair that resembled aunt Arya’s, uncle Jon’s and his grandfather Ned’s, but had Tully blue eyes. Robb would never say it out loud but he thanked the gods when the boy came out with dark colored hair that reminded him so much of his father. After a few more seconds he stopped tickling Ned and pressed his lips against his temple as the little one smiled and tried to catch his breath. Ned wrapped his arms around his father’s neck and kissed his cheek. Robb looked over at his wife to see her smiling warmly at Joanna and Lyanna as they filled her in on what they planned to do for the day since it was their first day of summer vacation. 

_“You should try talking to him.” Rickon said looking at Robb worried._

_Arya shook her head. “What can I say to him? It won’t change… He probably thinks this is all a dream.”_

_“He has to believe this is real… there’s too much to lose if he drowns in his sorrow.”_

_“He can you hear.” Arya glared at him._

_“It’s not like he’s listening.” He hissed through clenched teeth._       

“Robb, look!”

Robb looked up to see Myrcella walking into the living room with a bouquet of red roses.

“Aren’t they beautiful?”

He did not like the way the roses made her smile mainly because it wasn’t him that ordered them, which only led to it being someone else. “Who are they from?” His eyes narrowed on the bouquet already making a mental list of possible men he knew that would gladly give Myrcella roses even though she was a married woman.

Myrcella was highly amused by the death glare her husband was giving the roses. “They’re not for me.” Which only made it more entertaining when she said, “A little boy dropped them off for Lyanna.”

“Oh.” Robb looked away momentarily when he felt his face burn up as he came to terms that he had been jealous of a child.

“Isn’t that sweet of him?” She sniffed the roses. “I’ll go put them in a vase with water and place it in Lyanna’s room so she can see them the moment she enters her room.”

He met Myrcella’s amused gaze when it dawned on him what this could mean. “Lyanna is too young to be having a boyfriend.”

“I highly doubt they know what a boyfriend or girlfriend is at their age.”

“You’d be surprised of what kids know nowadays.”

“Now is not the time to be an overprotective father Robb.” She kissed his cheek. “They are young and the only thing the boy knows is that he likes her.”

“It seems more than like to me.” Robb glanced at the roses skeptical. “He gave her red roses and we both know what they’re symbolic for.” Red roses were what he used to give Myrcella when he had been courting her before they got engaged.  

“That’s what makes it more adorable.” Myrcella’s laughter had Robb fighting back a smile. He was struggling to make a point and she wasn’t helping, yet he knew it was a lost cause as he watched his wife glow with merriment as she gazed upon the red roses.

The next morning Myrcella was greeted with the sight of a bouquet of red roses on Robb’s pillow. A smile curved on her lips, her fingertips brushed lovingly against the petals.

_Gendry ran a hand through his hair feeling defeated as he looked at Robb’s back. His emotions reflected those that Arya tried so hard to bury as well as his own. He couldn’t let himself break not when the one his half sister loved the most was becoming a shell right before his eyes._

_“There has to be something I can do or say.” Arya’s hands curled into fists. She was never good with words and there had never been a time she regretted it until now. “He can’t… I can’t let him.”_

_“I know how you feel Arya.” He really did. Every time he tried speaking with Robb, it was like speaking to a wall. Nothing penetrated it. She would have never wanted to see him like this. “He needs time.” With his very being, Gendry believed that this was the solution. Nothing else seemed to work. “This is something he has to get over himself.” He wrapped an arm around Arya’s shoulders and pulled her close needing to comfort her and her presence to comfort him. They both lost someone they held dear and now they appeared to be losing another one right before their eyes. “He won’t listen to anything we say and we can’t help him if he doesn’t seek our help.”_

_Her eyes burned with unshed tears as she looked at the shell her older brother was becoming. “This isn’t right.”_

“Damn it Myrcella.” Robb pivoted and glared at her. “You can’t save everyone. You have to think about yourself.”

“So you’re saying I shouldn’t have done anything and let her get raped.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“That’s not what I mean.” He growled. “The son of a bitch had a knife. What if he had stabbed you? How the fuck would you think I’d feel? What would I tell the girls and Ned?” With each question Robb raised his voice until he was shouting. “I could have lost you!” He couldn’t lose her, not after his father, and definitely not after he saw what Ygritte’s death had done to Jon. The thought of ever losing her frightened him.

Silence reigned over them for a moment as they tried to recollect themselves. Robb turned his back on her not wanting her to see how her actions could shake him to the core. “I’m sorry.” Myrcella whispered as she walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. She had seen the fear in his eyes, frightening him had not been her intention. She didn’t think only reacted when it happened. “I did call the police.”

Robb sighed. “Only after you knocked the man unconscious.” He was tired of arguing with her, all he wanted to do was throw her over his shoulder and carry her to their bedroom only to lock her in there and know she would be safe from any harm.

She held onto him tighter, her chest flushed against his back. “I love you.” Myrcella kissed his shoulder as her hands fisted his shirt. “Don’t you ever forget.”

He placed his hands over hers and rubbed a thumb over her knuckles until her hands uncurled. Robb brought them up to his lips and placed a kiss on them silently vowing to keep a closer eye on her as he twined their hands. 

_Sansa wrapped her arms around herself as she walked up to Bran. “I wish there was something we could say to him.”_

_“There’s nothing to say.” Bran glanced at her briefly before his gaze returned to Robbs form. “This kind of pain can only heal with time.”_

_“I know…” She thought about when Jon had been in Robb’s place. He healed with time. “But it doesn’t make it easier.  I don’t like to see him suffer like this.”_

_“It’s not easy for me as well, but we can at least give him this time before forcing him to face a world that has no…” Bran couldn’t even finish the sentence. It hurt for she had been his friend and he had never seen Robb in this state. He glanced at his nieces and nephew that stood with Jon and his mother._

Robb glanced down at his cell phone that vibrated on the table during the middle of a meeting. A frown marred his features when he saw Myrcella’s name on the screen. She knew to call his sectary when he was in a meeting and he had called her before the meeting began to make sure she remembered that he had one. The only time she would call if it was an emergency. But that shouldn’t be the case, Myrcella had told him she was taking the munchkins to eat at a café. Robb grabbed his cell phone ignoring the confused look Jon gave him as he answered it while walking out the conference room. “Cella.”

“Daddy!” Joanna sobbed through the phone.

“Sweetheart,” He had been concerned when he saw his wife’s name on the phone, but dread formed in the pit of his stomach as he heard his little girl crying through the phone. “What’s wrong? Where’s your mom—”

“I think mommy been hurt!” She cried hard. “You have to come! They won’t let me see her!”

“I’ll be right there. Don’t move sweetie.” He didn’t think about going back into the conference room to tell Jon to come with him. It wasn’t until Jon opened the passenger door did Robb realize that his half brother had followed him. They didn’t speak as he drove to the café.

_“Out of the both of us I think you would know what to say him.” Catelyn blinked back tears. “Please help him Jon.”_

_“I can’t… no amount of words can ease his pain.” Jon said remembering how he felt when he lost Ygritte. Robb had been the only one who could handle him in the end. Had been patient enough to lure him back out when everyone else had tried and failed. “I’m not even sure what he did to wake me up.”_

_Joanna, who had been standing next to him and holding his hand, looked up at him as she tugged it. “You have to help him uncle Jon.” She looked between her grandmother and Jon. “The both of you just have to.” Her voice cracked as tears glistened in her eyes._

_The sight tugged painfully at Jon’s heart. “He won’t listen to me.” He crouched down until he was in eye level with her. “He’s dreaming and I have no doubt in my mind that he thinks this is a dream to him.” Jon knew what it felt like to create your own world with memories, a world that was far better than reality, where the pain would stop. “He’s living in his own world right now.”_

_“What’s his world like?” Joanna asked watching her father._

_“His world is a world where she still lives.”_

_“You need to wake him up.”_

_Catelyn and Jon look at Lyanna, who had remained silent the entire day and refused to cry, was now fighting back tears as she held Ned’s hand._

_“If he’s dreaming you have to wake him up.” Tears slid down her face for the first time since the incident. “We need daddy.”_

Robb quickly got out the car not caring that he left it in the middle of traffic when he spotted Lyanna holding a struggling Ned as he repeatedly cried out for his mommy. Joanna stood next to them her body shaking with sobs. “Joanna! Lyanna! Ned!” Robb yelled as ran toward them and wrapped his arms around them holding them close. They clutched onto him desperately. “What happened?”

“We’re not sure daddy.” Lyanna said through her tears.

“Tell me what you know.” He told her gently, wiping her tears away as Jon joined them and grabbed Joanna gently by the shoulders making sure she was unharmed. Jon then pulled Ned into his arms and held him close as the boy continued to sob. Robb glanced at his half brother reassuring each other that the children were unharmed physically but something horrible still happened that had hurt them emotionally. 

“We were eating in the café. Mommy told us to wait there before she ran out. There were screams outside and we got scared so we came out.” Joana explained when Lyanna couldn’t keep talking. “We tried looking for her. No one would let us go to her, they said mommy was hurt.”

“Stay with your uncle Jon.” Robb kissed Lyanna on the forehead and Joana and Ned briefly on the temple before leaving them with Jon and speaking with the closest person to him. A lady that he had barely noticed had been standing guard over his children. “What happened?”

“It was terrible.” The lady shook her head. “A little boy had been crossing the street and a car sped through a red light. Everyone thought the little boy was going to be hit, but then a young lady ran out to the street. She pushed the little boy out of the way, but car hit h—”

Robb didn’t finish hearing what she said as he caught sight of the police questioning witnesses and the ambulance blocking the street. He couldn’t see most of the damage because people were blocking his way. As he walked through the crowd it felt like a nightmare. Fear clung to him like a second skin. He had to see her. The yellow caution tape was the only thing keeping him from advancing forward. In the end it didn’t matter when he caught sight of her body laying in a pool of blood, her eyes closed to the world. Disbelief drove back the fear. “Myrcella!” Her name ripped from his lungs as he ducked under the tape and ran to her. He ignored the shouts from the paramedics and police. His knees buckled under him when he reached her side and lifted her. Her body still felt slightly warm in his arms as he held her and his heart ached at the sight of her. He could almost fool himself into believing she was only sleeping if he ignored the blood that spilled from the corner of her mouth and stained her clothing, the same blood that seeped into his slacks and shirt. As well as the fact that her chest was no longer moving up and down to take breaths.

“Wake up.” Robb’s voice cracked and his hand trembled as he caressed her cheek.

_“…Robb...”_

She couldn’t leave him. “Our children still need you. I still need you by my side.” He pressed his forehead against hers. “Wake up Cella.”

_“Wake up.”_

“Please, you can’t leave me.” Robb whispered pleadingly as tears slid down his face. “I still need you… I love you.”

_“Wake up Robb.”_

_Robb glanced at Jon who came to stand beside him. Jon met his gaze and was caught off guard by the hollowness in them. Never had he seen his brother’s gaze void of emotion. “It wasn’t your fault.”_

_“I should have kept a closer eye on her.”_

_“That wouldn’t have worked. Myrcella… she would always lend a helping hand no matter the situation. If it was within her power she would do it without a second thought.”_

_“She always wore her heart on her sleeve.”_

_“She did… it was the first thing you noticed about her other than her looks. It was why you fell for her.” Jon glanced at him hoping that his words would bring a smile on his lips like they used, but there was nothing only silence. “You need to wake up Robb, this is reality.”_

_“No.” Robb shook his head._

Her lips were soft and yielding against his. She moaned as his hand slid under her night shirt and caressed her skin.

_“You must wake up Robb.” His mother pleaded._

_Robb remained silently staring at the ground._

Her body was warm against his as she held onto him tightly. “I love you.” He could feel her warm breath on the back of his shoulder as she pressed her lips softly against the skin there, making his very being aware of her and only her. Her hands fisted his shirt. “Don’t you ever forget.”

_“Do you plan on leaving your children like this?” Catelyn knew it was a low blow for her to question his love for his children. She knew how much he and Myrcella love them, but she was desperate. She already lost a girl she had accepted and loved as a daughter, she couldn’t lose her son as well._

_“No.” He whispered, his eyes burning with tears as he looked the gravestone. “Mother… she died saving a boy she didn’t even know.”_

_“That was Myrcella Stark at her finest.” Catelyn fought against another wave of tears as she heard the pain in his voice. How she wished she could make it stop hurting for him._

_“She didn’t deserve to die.” A tear slid down his face. “I should have been with her.”_

_“Maybe,” Jon placed a rose by the gravestone that read ‘Myrcella Stark. Beloved daughter, sister, wife, and mother with a heart of gold.’ "But who's to say it would have changed anything."_

_“I don’t want to wake up." He closed his eyes to the world once more. "... not yet."_

_“You’re already awake.”_

His eyes snapped open when he felt two small hands grab each of his. Robb glanced down to see Joanna and Lyanna grabbing hold of his hands before Ned walked over to him and wrapped his small arms around his leg.

“We’re awake too.” Lyanna looked up at her father blinking back tears.

Robb looked back at his wife’s gravestone. “It’s easier to dream.” He took a deep breath and let his tears fall.

“But it isn’t real.” Joanna wrapped her arms around her father when he crouched down and pulled them in for a hug.

Robb held onto them tightly as his body shook with sobs he refused to let out. It was them who grounded him to the present, to reality. He felt someone else wrap their arms around him and looked up to see his mother smiling at him with understanding. “Mother…” She pressed a kiss on top of his head silencing him. Jon was the next to join followed closely by Rickon. Sansa came after with Bran, Arya, and Gendry. For the first time he noticed that his entire family was with him and had been waiting for him.  

_**But when we wake** _

_**It’s all been erased** _

_**And so it seems** _

_**Only in dreams** _


End file.
